Big Cypress Tree State Park
The park is named for the national champion bald cypress tree that once lived on the park. The tree was the largest bald cypress in the U.S.A. and the largest tree of any species east of the Mississippi River. The tree's diameter was 13 feet and its circumference was 40 feet.
The tree lived to be 1,350 years old before lightning struck and killed the tree in 1976. The lightning knocked the top out of the tree and the tree smoldered for two weeks. The tree is no longer standing at this time and cannot be seen from the two mile long bottomland trail that once led visitors to a place where the tree could be observed. The trail itself is now closed.
